Contending With Menace Of Cancer

-Kemi Yesufu


It is the trend the world over, that celebrities are recruited to champion causes. A famous name, several incidents have shown, is all that is needed to draw attention to a hitherto overlooked issue. By stroke of fate, some celebrities find themselves becoming the faces of causes they never thought they would willingly promote.

In the case of cancer, Nigeria has lost well-known and admirable personalities to this terminal disease. The most recent victims of the disease include former First Lady, Hajiya Mariam Babangida, wife of former Managing Director Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Aliere Alaibe, and legal icon and human rights activist, Gani Fawehinmi (SAN). Mrs. Babangida died from ovarian cancer, Mrs. Alaibe from intestinal cancer, while Chief Fawehinmi lost the battle to cancer of the lungs. The death of these highly placed individuals have acted as some kinds of wake up call to Nigeria that indeed cancer is silently killing many of its citizens.

Cancer can be defined as the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells that have mutated from normal tissues. This growth can kill when these cells prevent normal function of vital organs or spread throughout the body, damaging essential systems.

Cancer, known by its medical term, malignant neoplasm, has also been described as a class of diseases in which a group of cells display uncontrolled growth (division beyond the normal limits), invasion (intrusion on and destruction of adjacent tissues), and sometimes metastasis (spread to other locations in the body via lymph or blood). These three malignant properties of cancers differentiate them from benign tumours, which are self-limited, and do not invade or metastasise. Most cancers form a tumour, but some like leukaemia, do not. The branch of medicine concerned with the study, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer is oncology.

Cancer affects people at all ages with the risk for most types increasing with age. Cancer caused about 13 percent of all human deaths in 2007 (7.6million) people. Cancers are caused by abnormalities in the genetic material of the transformed cells. These abnormalities may be due to the effects of carcinogens, such as tobacco smoke, radiation, chemicals, or infectious agents. Other cancer-promoting genetic abnormalities may randomly occur through errors in DNA replication, or are inherited, and thus present in all cells from birth. The heritability of cancers is usually affected by complex interactions between carcinogens and the host’s genome.

Daily Independent met with Chidinma Uwajimogu someone who lived with the fear of inheriting cancerous genes, having lost her mum to the disease. Before Uwajimogu’s mum passed on in year 2006, she lost two close friends to the disease, so, it seemed that cancer was hell bent on making her life an unhappy one. This much she disclosed, “I lived with the fear of cancer. I lost two friends, both of them in their youth, to cancer. One of them, married with three children died of breast cancer. The second one died of cancer of the bladder. I lost these two women I was close to in 1997. Then, any little pimple on my body I self-diagnosed as cancer. Once I felt feverish I assumed it was cancer. I went for a mammogram test, blood tests. So you can imagine my state of mind when my mother was diagnosed with cancer at 59. This was a woman, after losing my father and had raised 10 children on her own who should now be enjoying the fruit of her labour, but rather than us spending money to buy her jewellery or other good things of life, we spent on hospitals and treatment for cancer. If one person in the family is stricken by cancer then every other member of the family is affected emotionally, financially and you wouldn’t smile until your sick relative smiles. I have seen the face of cancer not from strangers, but people close to me. I have personally suffered the devastation that cancer brings upon the sufferer, his/her friends and family.”

Nevertheless, the NGO facilitator, speaking in an optimistic tone advised that individuals with cancer patients in their families be emboldened by the simple fact that cancer like other ailments is kept at bay with a healthy diet, exercise and routine medical checks. “Yes, doctors do warn that if one of your family members has cancer, it increases the chances of you having the disease. But we also know that if you eat well, live a healthy life, exercise and do things in moderation, you will alter that genetic factor. Our health in God’s hands, but we can help ourselves by dropping the bad habits like smoking which increase the risk of having cancer.”

After years of fear characterised by countless tests to detect cancer, Uwajimogu, having proven by her doctors to be cancer free, took up the gauntlet to fight the disease by setting up the Ego Bekee cancer foundation. As someone greatly affected by cancer, the Ego Bekee Foundation founder had adopted a never-say-die approach in what can be termed a revenge mission on the disease. “It is one of the goals of the Ego Bekee Foundation to reach the grassroots with our message. Most of our advocacy works are carried out in the rural areas. If my siblings and I could feel the pressure financially by providing treatment for my mother, you can imagine how a rural dweller or less privileged person will fare. Most of our patients are rural women. They cannot afford to pay for treatment and most times they don’t even know what they are suffering from. You know there is so much stigmatisation of cancer in the rural areas. Some say it cannot be cured others. Others say cancer is caused by spiritual attack. Somebody even asked my siblings and I if we had checked to find out if my mother’s case was not caused by spiritual attack. It is true that the spiritual world exists, but we need to start from the things we see. So if there is a pimple on your body or a strange mark, check it out in the hospital, find out what it is all about.”

Speaking from her personal experience, Uwajimogu further said, “Through the years that I cared for my mum, I found out that cancer is curable, it is a condition that can be treated when detected early. This is why it is good to test for cancer if one has the suspicion or not that he/she may have cancer. Some people think there is no need of test for cancer, because it cannot be treated and it will amount to a waste of money treating the disease, but they are wrong. Rather cancer becomes incurable when people leave it till it advances to the late stages. The best thing is to see a doctor because you just might be at the stage where the disease can be treated.”

Explaining why more cancer cases are discovered among Nigerian women, Uwajimogu identified the female anatomy and lifestyle changes as the major cause. “Women are more at risk for cancer because of the way we are constituted. We have breasts and the men who have breast cancer are very few. Also a woman that has a cervix is more likely to go to the hospital to investigate what is going wrong with her body. Again, aside from the cancers that women develop owing to their anatomy, there are also cases of women suffering from other forms of cancer. Continuing she said, “Most people don’t eat healthy foods. They are more into fried, processed, and sugary food. Are we still eating the way we used to in the past? I don’t think so. Now we store food for weeks and use the microwave to warm the food when we bring it out. I believe that you are what you eat. I don’t think that it is advisable to smoke and drink for years and think that you feel very well. I have asked a smoker to give me reasons he smokes and he could not give me one. These are lifestyles we have imported and they definitely will come with consequences. But I don’t think that people weren’t dying of cancer before the fast food restaurants sprung up or we started consuming alcohol in large quantities or smoking became a common habit. The difference now is that more people are aware of the disease.”

Uwajimogu gave Nigerian doctors a pass mark on how her mum’s case was handled. She probably was lucky, as many have complained of wrong diagnosis leading to cancers reaching the advanced stage. Fawehinmi was reportedly treated for pneumonia for years locally before being diagnosed with lung cancer. To avoid misdiagnosis and its grave consequence Uwajimogu has some advice for doctors, government and individuals. “It is good for us to know that not all doctors can treat cancer. There are physicians, but there are specialists in some areas. It is important for a doctor if you cannot handle a case to refer it to a specialist who can. There are some cancer patients who would have survived if they had commenced treatment on time. So it is important that we have more doctors in oncology and nurses trained specially to care for cancer patients. It is very important that nurses caring for cancer patients are well trained, because some of the patients can be difficult because of the suffering they are going through. In fact I suggest that every medical facility in Nigeria be equipped for cancer screening so that people do not need to travel for miles for screening or to get any kind of help. This is not a tall order because every physician can conduct a breast examination and a gynaecologist can screen for cervical cancer. Women are also encouraged to examine their breasts, because most patients detect the lump before going to the hospital.”

An expert in the field of Oncology and President Elect of the Africa Organisation of Research and Training In Cancer (AORTIC), Professor Isaac Adewole, who spoke with our correspondent during the February 4 World Cancer Day, held in Abuja, called on Medical Doctors and Pharmacists in government hospitals to access drugs for the treatment of various forms of cancer. These drugs, he said, are stored at the National Medical Store, Oshodi, Lagos, noting however that the doctors and pharmacists have failed to avail victims of the drugs, some of which were said to have expired. Adewole decried the attitude of the professional health workers. He opined that they should be held liable for not doing enough towards arresting the situation.

According to him, “All that is needed is the Doctors and the Pharmacists to do their jobs by prescribing and dispensing the drugs. They are available at the National Store. Many of these drugs have expired and there is no way the stock can be replenished, because since they are still available and unused, there is no way they can make case for more.”

He however proffered that the concerned health authorities should prescribe and dispense the drugs for those in need. While noting that the number of cancer treating institution in the country are grossly inadequate, the University of Ibadan teacher, said “though we have just five radiotherapy machines in the country right now for a population of over 150 million, respite would soon come the way of cancer patients.

Though that is not the only equipment we find in a cancer treatment centre, we gathered that the Federal Ministry of Health is about to acquire and install 10 new such machines in our cancer treatment centres to boost other equipment we have on ground now.”

Adewole, who is coordinating the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation sponsored American Cancer Society programme tagged the African Tobacco Control Consortium meant to reduce the use of tobacco, said the essence of his organisation was to provide a platform for government and the private sector to buy into the awareness campaign of the disease on the continent, adding, “Awareness is the key to this disease and that is one thing that is lacking, which the organisation is keen to bridge.”

Meanwhile Minister of Health, Professor Babatunde Osotimehin, promised that cancer patients in the country will soon heave a sigh of relief as the Federal Government in conjunction with MD Anderson Cancer Centre in the U.S.A. have concluded arrangement to train six specialists in palliative care and have also invested $2 billion in a partnership with the International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) to build capacity and upgrade cancer management facilities.

He said that the IAEA would train nuclear physicists, nurses, pharmacists, technologists and radiographers as well as ensuring the availability of nuclear medical and radiotherapy equipment for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer within eight years in 12 tertiary health institutions in Nigeria.

They include University College Hospital, Ibadan, National Hospital, Abuja, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Maiduguri. Others are University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Federal Medical Centre, Gombe, Usman Dan Fodio University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto, University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital and University of Calabar Teaching Hospital.

SOURCE

Pass National Tobacco Control Bill now, ERA Urges N/Assembly

On the occasion of the 5th anniversary of the coming into force of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has decried the lack-lustre approach of the National Assembly to the speedy passage into law of the National Tobacco Control Bill, saying further delay in the passage of the bill may cost the nation more tobacco related deaths.
The FCTC which has been signed and ratified by over 168 countries including Nigeria came into force in 2005 and is the first treaty negotiated under the auspices of the World Health Organisation (WHO) to draw global action against tobacco-related deaths.
The WHO says tobacco-related deaths stand at 5.4 million people annually and projects this will increase beyond 8 million over the next two decades, with the majority of lives lost in developing countries. It therefore insists that strong worldwide enforcement and implementation of the FCTC could save 200 million lives by the year 2050.
Nigeria which signed the FCTC in 2004 and ratified in 2005 has been recording more deaths relating to tobacco, especially cancer.
“The fifth year of FCTC entering into force calls for sober reflection for us as a nation because in the last five years little progress has been made in domesticating the FCTC. This has not been without a grave impact on the citizenry because within this period we have lost talented musicians, journalists and even doctors, no thanks to nearly no regulation of an industry that markets a lethal product in beautiful wraps, ” said ERA/FoEN Programme Manager, Akinbode Oluwafemi.
Oluwafemi pointed out that “Nigerians are unhappy with the slow response of government to public health protection , especially with the way the tobacco control bill has been neglected after the public hearing held in July 2009. We are further dismayed that there is an alleged clandestine moves by tobacco lobbyists to compromise our law makers with the intent of thwarting the passage of the national tobacco control bill.”
“How else can you explain our law makers’ foot-dragging on the bill nearly one year after the public hearing? This action is anti-people and seriously compromises our democracy. Our lawmakers should stand by the people who have spoken in unison at the public hearing and abide by the principles of the FCTC which has reduced tobacco-related deaths in countries that have implemented the provisions”
In the February 26 anniversary speech, Director General of the WHO, Dr. Margaret Chan, said recent studies estimates that full implementation of just four cost-effective measures set out in the FCTC could prevent 5.5 million deaths within a decade.
Similar sentiments were echoed by tobacco control groups across the world. The Framework Convention Alliance (FCA), a network of tobacco control groups from across the globe said that countries that have implemented the FCTC provisions like ban on tobacco advertisingand sponsorships have gone a long way in reducing deaths.
FCA Director, Laurent Huber, noted however, that “tobacco use remains high in low and middle income countries and is increasing among women and young people...We have had five years of good progress on policy but deaths due to tobacco use continue to rise. Governments need to fund their policy promises to stem the tide of tobacco deaths”
Another group, Corporate Accountability International, warned on the tobacco industry’s track-record of trying to water down on the implementation of the FCTC.
The organisation’s Director, Campaign Challenging Big Tobacco, Gigi Kellett, revealed that “In July 2009, during an international protocol negotiating session, Parties identified and kicked tobacco lobbyists out of the process - a move made possible by Article 5.3., a provision of the FCTC which protects the treaty from tobacco industry interference in any guise. By that action, parties safeguarded the negotiations against the tobacco industry's fundamental and irreconcilable conflict of interest, sending a strong message to the industry.”
The FCTC entered into force in 2005. Parties are expected to domesticate the treaty by implementing national tobacco control coordinating mechanisms, prohibiting the sales of tobacco products to minors, and take measures to protect public health policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry.

Tobacco industry: A question of corporate social irresponsibility

by-Akin Owoeye

I have in recent times observed through newspaper articles the generous activities of tobacco companies, particularly the British American Tobacco (BAT) which claims to be social responsible. Tobacco companies make so much noise about what they do, despite the laid-down rules and procedures on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes. But the truth is, it is normal for any responsible company to engage in CSR.
CSR is an effort to bring corporate values more in line with society's expectations and values. That is, a way for companies to develop a code of conduct and provide accountability to society. It is however my view that legally enforceable mechanisms based on internationally agreed standards in the areas of human, social and environmental rights are necessary to reverse the unsustainable impacts of tobacco companies' activities.
The tobacco companies, through their CSR efforts, attempt to gain credibility and public trust, but their CSR efforts have not demonstrated any positive impact on public health. They give little to host communities and take so much out of them. The industry claims to help tobacco farmers by giving loans, while in actual fact it forces them to grow tobacco for buyers who will provide all inputs. When the cost is deducted from the farmers' earnings, the leftover can hardly be used for anything. Moreover, they sign contracts which they know nothing about, a situation which has kept them mired in abject poverty.
Health threats to tobacco farmers include bladder cancer, allergies or skin disorder (eczema), pesticide exposure, etc. They engage children and women in tobacco farming and expose them to Green tobacco sickness, which involves nicotine poisoning through the skin during cultivation and harvesting. It also causes vomiting or nausea and dizziness or headaches during or after exposure.
While tobacco companies' public advertising has been restricted, much of their CSR is actually indirect advertising. They carry out all sorts of promotions and sponsorships, even when research has shown that industry-sponsored programmes do not work. Tobacco industry youth programmes, for instance, do more harm than good for tobacco control, and should not be allowed to run or be directly funded by tobacco companies. In the same vein, research has also shown that industry-sponsored TV programmes increase exposure to tobacco products.
Several tobacco companies state that they have developed less harmful tobacco products as part of their CSR efforts. However, there is no scientific evidence to prove that these products are less hazardous. Profit continues to be a motivator of all they do.
The truth is that tobacco industry objectives and goals will always remain incompatible with what public health wants. Contrary to standard ways of doing CSR according to Indication Protocols (IP), a product responsibility indicator, organisations are expected to exercise due care in the design of their products and services. This is to ensure they do not pose unintended hazards to health and safety.
In addition, protection of health and safety is a recognised goal of many national and international regulations. So failure to comply with legal requirements indicates either inadequate internal management systems and procedures, or lack of implementation.
BAT's CSR claims to subscribe to the international reporting system, but cannot report on customer health and safety indicators, given that its products kill one-half of its users. Tobacco industry and health promotion goals are also mutually exclusive; hence partnership is impossible.
All told, economic actors (the government, transnational companies) have a huge role to play in protecting, promoting and respecting human, social and environmental rights. Tobacco companies often exercise enormous influence over decision-making in the country, and are rarely held accountable for damaging the environment, harming local communities and forcing workers and tobacco farmers to accept unfair conditions and/or salaries. It is time for companies to be responsible and accountable!

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Don't Smoke Away Your Future

Newborns of smokers have abnormal blood pressure

By Agency Reporter

Babies of women who smoked during pregnancy have blood pressure problems at birth that persisted through the first year of life, a new study finds.
''What is of concern is that the problems are present at birth and get worse over time,” said Gary Cohen, a senior research scientist in the department of women and child health at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, and lead author of a report in the Jan. 25 online edition of Hypertension. ”They‘re not going away, they‘re getting worse.”
The study led by Cohen compared 19 infants of nonsmoking couples with 17 infants born to women who smoked an average of 15 cigarettes a day during pregnancy. At one week of age, the infants of nonsmoking mothers experienced a 2 percent increase in blood pressure when tilted upright, with a 10 percent increase at one year. The pattern for the children of smoking mothers was reversed: a 10 percent blood pressure increase at one week, a 4 percent increase at one year.
And the heart rate response to tilting of the children of mothers who smoked was abnormal and exaggerated, the report said.
It‘s not possible to say whether the abnormalities seen in the babies will lead to trouble later in life, Cohen said. But, he noted, ”the extent of the condition at one year suggests that it is not going to disappear quickly.”
The reason why exposure to tobacco in the womb affects blood pressure is not clear, Cohen said. A leading possibility is that ”smoking might damage the structure and function of blood vessels,” he said, mainly by damaging the endothelium, the delicate layer of cells that line the interior of blood vessels.
Whether that damage will persist is not known. ”We‘re only up to 12 months at the moment,” he said. ”We plan to follow them.”
The damage seen in the Karolinska study is similar to that observed in babies born to mothers whose pregnancies were marked by such abuses as drug use, said Barry M. Lester, a professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at Brown Medical School, and director of the Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk.
”Early kinds of natal insults can cause reprogramming of brain circuitry,” Lester explained. He has led studies of the long-term effects of cocaine and amphetamine use during pregnancy. Many women who take such drugs also smoke, Lester added.
”When we isolated tobacco effects, we showed that there are inborn neural effects of tobacco exposure similar to what we see in cocaine and methamphetamine abuse,” he said.
Some research has connected such problems to overproduction of cortisol, a ”stress hormone” that plays an important role in regulation of blood pressure and the immune system, Lester said. ”Cortisol overexposure is one hypothesis,” he said. ”There is a lot of evidence showing that too much cortisol is damaging.”
It is a reasonable hypothesis, Cohen said. Babies born preterm have problems with blood pressure that have been linked to overproduction of cortisol by the adrenal glands, he noted, ”and there are some parallels between tobacco smoke exposure and preterm babies of the same age.”
Whatever the mechanism of damage, treatment to eliminate the problems after birth does not seem possible, Cohen added.

SOURCE

ACS to spend $7m grant in Africa over 5 years

In an unprecedented effort to reduce tobacco related deaths in Africa the American Cancer Society (ACS) is set to fund tobacco control activities on the continent with a $7million grant spread over five years. The grant will be channelled through the Africa Tobacco Control Consortium (ATCC).

The consortium coordinated by the America Cancer Society (ACS), includes the Africa Tobacco Control Alliance (ATCA), Africa Tobacco Control Regional Initiative (ATCRI) , Framework Convention Alliance (FCA), Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK), and the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union). ATCC’s s goal is to promote evidence-based tobacco control in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in order to prevent an epidemic of tobacco-caused death and disease in the region.

The $7 million grant, will provide financial and technical support for in-country implementation of the FCTC, implementation of a region wide advocacy campaign to prioritise tobacco control within the broader health and development agenda in Africa, targeted rapid response research to influence policy development and the monitoring of the implementation of the FCTC in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA).

Ban of cigarette in Abuja: FCTA’s clarion call to the media

NIGERIAN COMPASS

“Who is the next journalist we are going to lose to smokingrelated disease?” We lost Steve Kadiri, we lost Yinka Craig, and we lost Kubanji Momoh. Why is it that NUJ secretariats across the country are like smoking dens unlike the secretariats of other professional bodies? said Akinbode Oluwafemi, a former journalist with the Guardian Newspaper, and an activist against cigarette smoking in the countr .
Oluwafemi equally expressed worry that despite their exposure and knowledge, the late journalists, Dr. Beko Ransome Kuti, as well as the late songstress, Tina Onwudiwe who were chain smokers during their life time shared the same fate as they all died of tobacco related diseases.

According to him, Tina Onwudiwe who reportedly died of cancer started smoking cigarette at the age of 16.

The Programme Manager for Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, Nigeria, who was in Abuja for a one day workshop on ‘Tobacco and the Media’ queried journalists on how long they would remain silent while tobacco smoking continues to take away some of the nation’s valuable ones. The workshop which was aimed at getting the mass media on the driver’s seat of the campaign against smoking of cigarette in public places in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, was designed to continue the enforcement of the ban of cigarette smoking in public places in Abuja introduced in 2008 by the then FCT Minister, Dr. Aliyu Modibbo Umar.

More than any of his predecessors, former FCT Minister, Dr. Moddibo , has etched his name in the book of history as the first minister to ban smoking of cigarette in public places in Abuja. It was in view of this feat that he was given an award by the World Health Organisation (WHO) even after the expiration of his tenure.

In the same vein, Modibbo, also won accolades from those who have been kicking against the sales and consumption of tobacco products in the country.

Modibbo indeed invoked the provision of Tobacco Control Act of 1990 on August 31, 2008 to make public smoking of cigarette within the FCT a criminal act, no matter how highly placed a person might be. Ever since, there have been repeated calls from anti-smoking groups to have smoking of cigarette banned in all the 39 states of the federation.

Most of the calls against tobacco smoking in the country also include heavy taxation of the product to discourage consumers as cigarette according to anti-smoking activists and health practitioners, remains a product in which consumers do not derive any benefit.

To ensure that tobacco and cigarette are totally eliminated from the country, most of the agitators have also been looking forward to how the tobacco companies in the country would eventually be flushed out.However, in all their campaigns against smoking of cigarette, a missing link has been identified which is said to be a key factor in ensuring that all efforts at shutting down tobacco factories in the country become successful. Still perturbed by the tobacco situation in the country especially among men of the pen pushing profession, who according to him have huge capacity for creating mass awareness on any issue, Oluwafemi asked: “ Is a writer that guy with a cigarette in one hand and writing with the other hand”?

The media, he explained, are trusted by the public and policy makers as they (media) connect the political agenda with policy agenda. He noted that Nigerian media has an history of advocacy journalism and should not fail in this regard to make the public see the evil in the production and consumption of cigarette.

He revealed that contrary to belief in some parts of the country, especially in Oke Ogun area of Oyo State where the British America Tobacco Company (BAT) has tobacco plantations, a recent report by the UN and the World Bank has indicated that tobacco business or cultivation is not a sustainable business anywhere across the world.

It is against this realisation that he said that both the UN and the World Bank have stopped sponsoring investment in tobacco related production or business.

But what is role for the media in the campaign? The anti-tobacco smoking exponent noted that though the failure of the federal government to impose heavy tax on the products has continued to encourage more patronage from the public, the mass media is feared greatly by the tobacco industry.

“The media is the only medium through which tobacco advocates can communicate with both members of the public and policy makers at the same time,” he said, adding “the use of mass media for effective tobacco control gained momentum in the 1990s in countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.”

Again, he stressed that mass media campaigns are an effective tobacco control strategy as they increase knowledge of the health risks of tobacco use, encourage quitting and motivate change in both smokers and non-smokers.

The former journalist, convinced that media can help win the war against cigarette in the country, advocated that media houses should create one ‘tobacco journalist’ per media house. This, he explained could be done when such journalists capacity is boosted to report tobacco issues.

Although he argued that tobacco to some journalists is not as attractive as other issues such as AIDS, malaria, poverty, corruption and bad governance, Oluwafemi opined that media can be used to advocate tighter tobacco control laws and implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) which Nigeria is a signatory.

Why the war against tobacco smoking? The anti-smoking activist explained that the adult smoking rate in Nigeria is put at 17 per cent which translate to mean that there are over 13 million active smokers in the country.

“Since half of smokers die of tobacco related diseases, it also goes to show that over 6.5 million Nigerians are on death row due to tobacco addiction. Tobacco kills, it kills over 5 million people every year,” he said.

He added: “Tobacco is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, a major risk factor for cancers as well as a major risk factor for about 44 different kinds of diseases. There are over 4000 carcinogens in tobacco smoke.”

While corroborating this, the FCT administration Secretary for Social Development Secretariat, Barrister Habiba Sani Kalgo, said the media has a great role to play in the process of sensitising the public and should not be left out in the chain of reaction if all the efforts at making members of the public appreciating the ‘stop smoking in public places campaign’ must be successful.

Barrister Kalgo who spoke at the workshop organised by her secretariat in partnership with the Nigeria Tobacco Situation Analysis (NTSA) for FCT Press Corps stressed that the job of sensitising the public on the hazard of smoking cigarette would be made easier with mass media incorporated into the FCTA’s campaign against the habit.

“The workshop we are having today with the media is in recognition of your importance in the success of the campaign. Indeed, the power of the media in effective communication cannot be over-emphasised. We have brought our friends from the Nigeria Tobacco Situation Analysis (NTSA) to properly educate us on this very significant health issue.”

Currying the support of the mass media in the FCT administration’s war against smoking of cigarette in public places in Abuja, the Social Development Secretary said: “Our beautiful city of Abuja as you know has put its name in history books as one of the few cities in the world to have officially banned smoking in public places. We therefore urge you to join the FCT administration in our noble course of promoting healthy living and public health safety of Abuja residents.”

At the end of the workshop in which journalists from media houses like the Nigerian Compass, the Nation, Leadership, Vanguard, NTA, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Hot FM, Rhythm FM, Daily Trust, People’s Daily, AIT, ITV, DBN, The Champion among others, were present, there was an atmosphere of conviction among journalists that the war is worth fighting as at least tobacco smoking has claimed some of their loved ones. Hence, they cannot wait to see another one stolen away by a preventable habit.

SOURCE